Doing DIY in period homes can put pregnant women at risk

Doing DIY in period homes can harm unborn children by putting women at risk of
lead poisoning, researchers warn.

Renovating old homes can put women and their unborn children at risk of lead poisoningPhoto: Alamy

By Claire Carter

6:41AM BST 06 Sep 2013

Renovating old properties to prepare for a new addition to the family as well as burning open fires and even drinking coffee is believed to pose a serious risk to pregnant women.

Lead released from old paintwork as well as when burning a fire can put women at risk of pre-eclampsia – a potentially fatal condition for mother and child – and affect a child’s intelligence or cause them to become hyperactive.

Researchers at Bristol University studied the blood samples of 4,000 women, examining the level of lead.

They found levels were particularly high in women who were educated to degree level, which was unexpected as exposure to environmental toxins is expected to be higher in poorer populations.

The researchers believe this group may be more affected because they are more likely to buy older homes and renovate them and be vulnerable to lead which can be released from skirting boards and floorboards that is stripped of original paint.

Dr Caroline Taylor lead the study and said despite lead being banned from modern-day paint, people and particularly pregnant women, might want to think carefully about renovating their homes if they were built before 1960. She wrote in the journal PLoS ONE: “A possible explanation is that women with higher educational attainment lived on older housing stock rather

than on modern estates and were perhaps involved in the renovation of older properties; this might cause exposure to lead-based

paints, through sanding old wood work, and to large amounts of dust that has accumulated over many decades.’

Lead concentrations were also affected by alcohol, coffee and pet dogs – but a coal fire was found to be the biggest factor.

Pet dogs are thought to raise the level of lead in the blood by bringing in contaminated soil and dust from outside.